Artichoke My Heart

"You have a bright future ahead of you.

Go into the world.

And use everything we have taught you."

-Tyson Bedford, "Make Me A Supermodel"

Kate has a magic bullet. Alayna has artichoke hearts. You've heard this story before...

Nooo, you haven't.

I was doing who knows what in Jersey so I could not partake on this adventure but Monday Soup fan, Lauren, filled in. Everything was moving along great.

Onions were sauteing...

Alayna was chopping hearts...

Stuff was going in the pot...

The cat was in the bag...

And then... it's time to puree.

"Oh Lauren, it's time to blend," Alayna said, innocently. Having no idea what was about to happen next.

"Yes!" said Lauren, excited to watch Monday Soup in real time and not just recaptured on this blog.

"Lets go to the blender," Alayna says. Bowl in hand. There they go. Five feet from the kitchen. To the corner of the apartment. By the bookshelf.

No one had any idea what was about to happen.

It was the age of innocence.

THE BLENDER IS BROKEN!

Can't you see the crack in the blender?

And that's when Kate's magic bullet comes in. And the story reaches our Monday's happy ending.

Unfortunately, that magic bullet is a wee little thing. And Alayna and soup crew dirtied every dish in the apartment. But worse has happened. And I wasn't there to have to do the dishes.

Now, for the soup:

Ingredients

The hearts from 6 large artichokes
butter
2 leeks
6 garlic cloves, chopped
3 chopped shallots
2 handfulls of baby red potatoes
Veg/Chicken Stock
1/2 bay leaf
Thyme
Handful of chopped parsley
half and half or heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste

Method

1 Cut the artichokes lengthwise into quarters. With a small knife, remove the thistley choke part and discard. Cut away the leaves from the artichoke heart and reserve for steaming and eating later. This will probably take longer than you think. Cut or peel away the tough outside skin of the stems and discard. Chop hearts to 1/4 inch thickness

2 In a large pot, melt half a stick of butter and cook the artichoke hearts, leek, garlic, and shallots on medium heat covered until tender (can stick a fork through hearts). Add diced potatoes and broth, about 2-4 bay leave, a handful of parsley and some thyme. Bring soup to a simmer and let cook covered until everything is tender (about 45 min).

3 Remove and discard the bay leaves. Purée the soup with your magic bullet if you somehow accidentally broke your blender body (oops!) and add cream to taste once all blended. Add salt/pepper as desired.

Lauren, with all of our dishes, dirty.